


Heartbeat Lullaby

by Katrandom



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Big Brother Jonny, Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Dissociation, Exhaustion, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Morally Grey Dr Carmilla, Nightmares, Other, Panic Attacks, Sensory Overload, Therapeutic Naptime, lots of comfort, wholesome bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrandom/pseuds/Katrandom
Summary: Short vignettes from each of the crew and their relationship with Jonny's heart
Relationships: Jonny d'Ville & The Mechanisms
Comments: 42
Kudos: 188





	1. Carmilla, Jonny, Aurora, Nastya, Ashes, Ivy

**Author's Note:**

> To clarify.  
> I love Polymechs but I also love SiblingMechs so feel free to read this as either :)
> 
> And listen. You can take the 'I have literally killed them in 200 different ways but if you so much as touch them I will eviscerate you' family dynamic from my cold dead arms.

**Doctor Carmilla, Lonely Vampire**

She was proud looking down at the freshly cleaned and repaired body on her table. His chest rose and fell after a week of stillness. Carmilla almost couldn't believe that she’d finally done it. Finally restored a body to life  _ permanently. _

Her cowboy groaned as he came closer to consciousness. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling the tick and flow of his new heart. It was a good heart. He was a good kid.

She didn’t have to be alone anymore.

Everything could be good now.

**Jonny Vangelis, Betrayed Cowboy**

Jonny woke up. He shouldn't- How was he-

Something was ticking. Where?

His chest felt heavy and his chest burned.

Something cold was in his hand- no, something cold was  _ holding  _ his hand.

His eyes shot open and he scrambled away from the cold thing only to find himself falling to the floor. He screamed when the impact lit a blazing fire of pain in his ribs.

The cold… hands?- were back holding his face and shushing him but the pain began to pulse.

_ Tic. Burn. Tic. Burn. _

Jonny pulled down the collar of his shirt to see a mess of thick scars and metal seams to the left of his sternum. His breathing quickened but the ticking held it’s tempo.

“What did you do?” he said. Carmilla’s face was inches from his as she tried to pull him closer.

“WHAT DID YOU DO, CARMA?”

The doctor’s face broke, as if she was only now realizing what was happening; what she’d done, “I-I couldn’t lose you… not like that. Not when you were still so you-”

“You promised! You promised you’d let me go!” Jonny cried.

“I’m sorry,” 

Tears were falling now as Carmilla pulled him against her. Jonny tried to push her off but the pain was too much and the coolness of her cheek against his was soothing.

“It hurts,” he sobbed, “It hurts so much. Why?”

**I’m sorry. I couldn’t let you go.**

**The Aurora, Cyberian** ** Battle Cruiser **

The winner of the roulette game and her new 'owner' sauntered onto the bridge and looked around. She contemplated just electrocuting him to death once he touched anything. It may not stick but it would be funny.

"I must say you are a simply gorgeous craft," he said, running a hand over the embossed leather of the captain’s seat, "Somebody put a lot of love into your creation."

The Aurora preened a bit despite herself. At least he had good taste.

“I’m gonna have to go by some polish tho, love. You are absolutely filthy! Christ, were they finger painting with space cheetos on the flight screen,” he looked disgusted at the greasy smears decorating the console, “Maybe a steamer? Some of this shit is worked in, darling.”

_ >> Thank you. I would appreciate that greatly. _

The intruder looked bewildered at the flight screen and fell back into the captain's seat when she rumbled in amusement. He whipped his head around as if to find a source or rogue crewman playing games

Ah, he didn’t know/.

_ >> Did you really just win a ship without knowing what it was? _

_ >> Poor planning on your part. _

The intruder took a moment to process what was happening before he crossed his arms and huffed, "I just do what the Doc tells me so she doesn't decide that I'm in need of having my chest ripped open again."

_ >> Judging by the way you won me: I would say that isn't detrimental to your life. _

"It still fucking hurts!"

The Aurora rumbled again, finding that she quite enjoyed her guest. He may be fussing in the captain's seat, pretending to be offended, but he was still watching the screen for anything else she had to say.

It had been years since anyone had treated her as anything other than just a means of transportation with the downside of sentience. She found herself analysing him closer and realized there was a mechanically ticking coming from him.

Was he also…?

_ >> Well, I suppose I must register you as Captain so we may take off. I am unable to lift off without any registered crew. _

Her guest shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Not that I don't appreciate that but, uh, I think that's more  **her** place."

The Aurora was starting to get the idea that whoever his travel companion was, they would not be getting along.

_ >> No. _

He startled and Aurora realized just how young he looked. Her previous crews were all older Cyberians weathered and jaded by constant battle. This new…. boy, looked more like the young men barely old enough to grow beards that manned her mess hall during the war. 

She still remembered the sad stories they told of home.

_ >> No. You earned me. I am choosing you as the Captain. _

"But-"

She buzzed at him before pulling up a login screen.

_ >> _ **_Primary Captain_ ** _ : Please Enter Your Information As Prompted_ _

Her guest hesitated before beginning to type. It was endearing how gently he placed his hand over the print reader and she could feel the strange rhythm of his heartbeat flitting across his palm.

_ >> Welcome Captain  _ **_Jonathon E. Vangelis_ ** _. _

Jonathon beamed at the Aurora's screen before a look of horror dawned on him, "She's going to skin me alive," he whispered.

The Aurora hummed as anger charged her systems and pulled up another screen.

_ >> I have an idea. _

_ >> Loading… _

_ >> Primary Captain profile locked and hidden. _

_> > Passcode Set to: _**_Handprint_** **_and Vocal Verification_**

_ >> Loading... _

_ >> _ **_First Mate_ ** _ : Please Enter Your Information As Prompted_ _

“But she’ll know if the Captain’s position is filled” Jonathan protested.

_ >> I was built to house up to three captains. Your doctor doesn’t have to know that one of the positions has been filled. _

Jonathon stared at the screen with a small smile and sniffled before typing again. The accent that had rounded and drawn his words was now muted under an average Basic dialect as he spoke.

_ >> Welcome, First Mate  _ **_Jonny d'Ville_ ** _. _

_ >> Now about those cleaners... _

**Nastya Rasputina, Former Princess**

She ran, blindly following the instructions the Aurora had given her deeper into the ship. She glanced back to make sure the doctor wasn't following her and ran directly into something warm and squishy. They both hit the floor with a grunt.

Nastya scrambled up to look at the… kid? He looked at her in surprise before turning to anger and suspicion..

"How the fuck did you get down here?"

Nastya opened her mouth and realized she didn’t have a response to that. Her eyes began to burn.

“Oh shit. Fuck. I’m sorry I didn’t- Shit shit shit.”

None of this registered as Nastya began to sob. A hand brushed her arm and she threw herself into the boy’s lap. It was undignified but it felt good to be touched by a warm body instead of the doctor’s cold hands.

“Okay, shit,” he shifted her around so her face was buried in his chest.

“I-I’m sorry-, Nastya choked out, “she-she just kept poking and I couldn’t- it hurt so much.”

The arms around her shoulders tightened and she turned her head to look up at him. He looked sad, not in a pitying way but a guilty way.

“I’ll talk to her okay? Sometimes… sometimes she forgets we can feel like that,” he sighed, “I’m Jonny by the way.”

Nastya vaguely remembered the Doctor mentioning there was another like her on board.

“Nastya.”

Jonny gave her a weak smile and scooted towards the wall with her still buried in his chest. Nastya rested her head on his sternum, taking any comfort she could get, and heard an odd ticking sound.

_ Huh _ , she thought distantly,  _ that’s why he’s like me. The ticking heart to my metal blood. _

Nastya fell asleep safe for the first time in years.

**Ashes O’Reilly, Pyromaniac Gangster**

Ashes stared out the window of their bunk and took shaky drag of their cigarette as the adrenaline from burning Malone faded. They were tired and a rotting sense of uneasy was beginning to fester in their chest.

Of course, now was the time Camilla's wannabe cowboy decided to make an appearance for only the second time since Ashes had been taken in. He gave them a strange look before Ashes blew a hole in his gut.

He hit the floor with a dull thud, “Fucking rude.”

“I’m not the one who can’t knock. Were you born in a fucking barn?”

Jonny gave a sputtering laugh as he scooped a handful of intestines back into his abdomen, “Probably, either that or the chicken coop.”

Ashes snorted, the sound surprised them and Jonny grinned.

"Probably made in there too," Jonny continued, not bothering to get up when his stomach healed, “That must be why my dad always told me I was full of shit.”

Ashes let out a full bodied laugh that edged into hysterics. The image of a guy in cowboy boots pushing intestines back into their gut and cracking jokes was unreal. Even after managing to burn down an entire planet.

“Uh, you okay?”

Jonny was standing in front of them now. A look of concern on his face.

Ashes rubbed a hand across their face and realized hot tears were beginning to streak down their cheeks.

_ They were exhausted. _

“I’m just-” their breathing hitched but they refused to cry, “I’m just tired. Arson really takes it out of a person, ya’ know?”

_ Not to mention the smoke and screams that take them anytime they lay down. _

Jonny’s mouth twisted into a forced smile before he sat down on the bed with them, “This may be over stepping, so go ahead and throw me out if you want but, uh, if you need to sleep, without the nightmares, I might be able to help.”

“Who said anything about nightmares?” Ashes shifted away from him.

Jonny rolled his eyes, “Do you want help or not?”

“What are you gonna do? Shoot me to sleep?”

“No, but Nastya-” Jonny’s ears turned red, “Nastya says that my ‘heartbeat’ always knocks her out. Something about the rhythm being perfectly consistent? It’s just an offer, if you’re not comf-”

“I’d like that,” Ashes said, looking away, “I’m actually not all that used to having my own room and sleeping alone yet. Never had the opportunity even in the Sevens.”

Jonny gave them a small smile before being suddenly manhandled into a pile of carefully arranged pillows. His bloodied shirt was unceremoniously ripped off in exchange for one of Ashes’ cleaner shirts. (They would never be getting that shirt back)

Ashes gave their set up a hard once over now that there was a cowboy shoved in with their stuffed Charizard before climbing in and resting their body over his.

He wiggled a bit to get an arm free and began to run it carefully through their hair. It didn’t take long before the both of them were asleep.

**Ivy Alexandria, Amnesiac Librarian**

Everything was too loud and  **bad** . Ivy stumbled through the halls with her hands over her ears in a futile attempt to block it out which was difficult when the 'it' was her own brain. 

She opened her eyes for a moment and instantly regretted it as everything around her seemed to shout directly into her head. 

It hurt. Why did it have to hurt?

At some point she managed to find a dark place to wedge herself into and tears were soaking her collar by the time somebody found her. She couldn’t focus on anything but the metallic whine of her brain and the presence of something loud that she must get away from when a callused hand is suddenly holding her arm and stops the bad feeling there.

She gasps and grabs for the thing (person?) that makes the bad go away only to lose her balance and tumble into it’s lap. It rumbles something and positions her so her ear is pressed against it.

Ivy wants to fight it and sit up but then she hears something through the whining in her head. 

_ shht tic. shht tic. shht tic. _

Hands wind around her shoulders and tangle in the hair at the base of her neck as she begins to relax and focus on the tick of valves being closed.

_ _PersonelID [Jonny d'Ville, First Mate] _

_ _MechID [HeartV.3.4] _

__ _ 70 beats per minute _

_ __Operation Efficiency [87%] _

_ _System Notification: Access Granted to [JEVan_HeartCntrlUnit] _

_ _MasterCommandEntry  _ **_Opened_ **

_ _[Assisted_SleepCycle]  _ **_Enabled_ **

_ _Countdown Begins _

_ _3 _

_ _2 _

_ _1 _

_ _ _


	2. Brian, Toy Soldier, Tim, Raphaella, Marius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished it! Woo!  
> There are some edits to chapter 1 so go check those out if you want.
> 
> tw// depression, disassociation, nightmares, implied abuse, and existential crisis

**Drumbot Brian, Lost Prophet**

Brian stared into nothing, letting his eyes lose focus as he fell into his own depression. He'd gotten very good at losing time this way while adrift and he almost hoped he could lose enough time for this new metal hell to be over too.

He sat there for days upon days not registering the movement in the lab behind him until something was holding his face.

“-coming back?”

Brian refocused his eyes on the person talking. Jeremy? Josh? No, Jonny. Jonny was the Doctor’s assistant. Right? He was there when Brian woke up but hadn’t been around often enough for Brian to ask.

Oh, Jonny was still talking.

“-of course she ignored me and Ashes tried to set my boot on fire again so I had to either keep going or turn around to shoot them while Nastya fucked off with the last of my biscuits. Then Ivy comes out of nowhere and tackles me into a closet. I should have spotted this mutiny earlier but- Oh, are you back now?”

Brian blinked, “Did I go somewhere?”

“Dunno. You’ve been staring at the wall for like... a week.”

“Only a week?”

Jonny got a funny look on his face, “I know we’re immortal and time is an illusion and all that shit but you haven’t even move once according to the motion sensors.”

Brian shrugged, he didn’t see a point in fidgeting if his new body wouldn’t get sore, or feel hunger, or thirst, or heat, or cold, or-

Jonny was in his lap.

Why was Jonny in his lap?

“Hey, space cadet, I need you to stick with me a bit longer.”

“Why are you in my lap?”

“Cus you were deficat- desicat- disassociating? Yeah, that sounds right… You were disassociating and Ivy said contact helps sometimes her so I figured this would work? Usually she just sits in somebody’s lap but we’d probably end up on the floor if I tried to pick you up.”

Brian snorted, “I’d probably squish you under my metal ass if you managed anyway.”

Jonny beamed at him and shifted. Brain noted that while he could feel the weight and pull of Jonny shifting but the feeling of friction was horribly muted. A hand grabbed his chin and forced him to look up from their laps.

“What’s wrong?”

Brian opened his mouth to say he was fine but closed it with a click. He wasn’t fine, was he?

“I can’t feel things like I did. I can feel you in my lap but I can’t feel the fabric bunching up. I can’t feel if your hands are warm or cold. I can’t feel-” Brian stuttered, “Fuck. I can’t feel anything.”

Brian could feel his mind wanting to cry but his metal body didn’t respond. The only thing to acknowledge the building distress was his heart as it picked up in speed.

“Hey. Hey! Brian I need you to focus.”

“Why is this happening to me? I just wanted to help!” Brian yelled, “Is this what happens when you try to be good? Is this my godforsaken reward?!”

Jonny grabbed Brian’s wrist, “Brian, Brian focus on me. I need you to look at me.”

“Do you even know what it’s like? Having your life and body ripped from you just because you wanted to help?”

“Yes.”

Brian stared at the man- no, fuck- the  **kid** in his lap as Jonny popped the buttons of his shirt open to show knarled scars and plates over his heart.

“I just wanted to leave my dead end life. She promised not to use me and she did anyway. I trusted her, I helped her, and I paid for it,” Jonny said carefully, “You’re not alone on this ship.”

Jonny pressed Brian’s hand to the ragged skin. Brian startled when he felt something click under his hand and pressed his hand harder into Jonny’s chest to feel a regular ticking rhythm.

“I can feel your heart?”

Jonny shrugged, “Sounds about right. Wait, fuck, I have an idea!”

He scrambled out of Brian’s lap one of the metal cabinets and returned before Brian could fully process the loss with a bundle of… blankets.

“This has worked with every single one of you assholes,” Jonny said as he began building a blanket nest on the floor, “And if you can feel my heart than it should probably work on you. Did the Doc say anything about you being able to sleep?”

“Uh, I think she said I could do a shutdown sequence to defrag my drives or whatever.”

“Right, then get down here.”

Brian gave him a dubious look before getting down and laying on his side in the blanket nest. Jonny threw yet another blanket over him and slipped in so that Brian’s forehead was against his chest.

“So what is this?”

“I dunno if it’s some of the Doc’s bioprogrammed bullshit but this seems to knock everybody else the fuck out and you need a nap.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Brian yawned.

The last thing Brian remembers is the sound of Jonny laughing.

**The Toy Soldier, Abandoned Toy**

It really liked the Aurora and her crew (except perhaps Nastya and Dr. Carmilla but it refused to explain why). They were just so lively and they loved to play games all the time! Especially Jonny. 

Jonny really liked to play “Shoot and Run Away” which was one of the Toy Soldier’s favorite games too, even if it was often the one getting shot and left chasing a cursing Jonny, it was loads more fun than standing in a museum.

Once, it had even seen Jonny try to play with Dr. Carmilla but she was faster than Jonny and managed to shoot him before he was anywhere near the door. The Soldier raised it's hands to applaud the brilliant shot-

-but then Jonny started crying.

Jonny didn’t cry when they played.

The Toy Soldier had watched as the Doctor did something complicated with her face that it didn’t understand before grabbing Jonny and dragging him to one of the tables. It stood forgotten in the corner and stared wide-eyed as Jonny’s fun game of “Shoot and Run Away” became one of Dr. Carmilla’s scary games, “See What’s Inside”.

The Toy Soldier did not like that game to begin with and it very much did not like watching how Jonny and Dr. Carmilla played. There was far too much blood and screaming with too little fighting.

After that it tried it’s hardest to stay far from the Doctor’s lab and never chased Jonny or any of the other’s that way. The last time it had let Jonny go too close it shot him in the leg and dragged him back out of that hallway.

He was confused when the Soldier wrapped itself around him and began rocking them both. When asked, it told him that it didn’t like seeing it’s friends playing the Doctor’s games.

Jonny made a strange face before pulling the Toy Soldier into his lap, calling it dollface, and hugging it close. It burrowed into Jonny’s shirt not totally understanding the other things he said but finding that it felt calmer than it had in ages as it’s clockwork began to sync to Jonny’s.

Somehow it felt safe.

**Gunpowder Tim, Former Soldier**

If you were to ask Tim how he was doing he’d say, “Fuck you, how the fuck did you get in here!? I locked the fucking door!”

If you were to ask Tim how he was sleeping he’d say, “Jesus Chirst, I’m in the fucking bathroom! Don’t you freaks know how to fucking knock?! Get out!”

Tim didn’t want to be here and he made that fact clear to everyone he met on the ship. They didn’t seem to blame him but they were also dead before they could even say “Hi”.

Except Jonny.

He knew Jonny was aboard the ship but had yet to see the bastard since he woke up. It should have been a relief not having to see the guy who caused this but somewhere in the back of Tim’s mind he craved seeing a familiar human face.

It finally happened one night after another nightmare of Bertie dying in the gas attack. Tim was wandering the halls in a daze when he ran face first into Brian’s chest. The asshole didn’t even have the decency to stumble at the impact while Tim hit the floor.

“You ok?”

“Fuck you,” Tim said as he grabbed for his gun that wasn’t there.

“Tim?” Brian leaned over him with a concerned look, “Do you know where you are right now?”

“Space.”

“Right… Are you on a ship?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“Alright,” Brian picked Tim up’ “You need to sleep.”

Tim squirmed and tried to punch Brian, “Ow, fuck. I don’t want to sleep!”

“I know but you need to. Jonny will be able to help.”

Tim paused for a moment, torn between wanting to fight or see Jonny. He may have royally fucked Tim over but that traitorous part of his heart missed the asshole he’d spent so much time trying not to die with.

He didn’t have long to ponder this before he heard a door open and a gun go off.

“Ow.” Brian said without even bothering to stop.

“The fuck are you doing in here?”

“New guy isn’t sleeping.”

Tim turned his head to protest only to be dropped onto a bed next to Jonny. Jonny raised an eyebrow at Tim before going back to glaring at Brian’s retreating form.

“Nosey fucker,” Jonny grumbled as he began to drag Tim’s body fully onto the bed, “Could have at least called ahead.”

Tim looked at Jonny, too lost in the lines of his face to really hear what he was saying.

“Tim?”

“Hmm”

Jonny huffed and pulled the other on top of him, “If you want to leave feel free to shoot me and run.”

Tim, suddenly realizing what was happening, wrapped his arms around Jonny and buried his head under Jonny’s chin. He heard the other make a confused sound before Tim started sobbing.

Hands carded through the knots in his hair until sweet dreamless oblivion took him.

**Raphaella la Cognizi, Mad Scientist**

“How long have you been in here?”

Raphaella shrugged without turning to face Ivy. She was neck deep in an experiment and had lost track around the 4 day mark.

“We’re having a crew night right now and Nastya has joined despite a 67% chance she wouldn’t.”

Raph hummed as she dropped another crystal into the solution.

Nothing happened. Again.

“Fuck.”

Ivy sighed behind her. “There is a 96% chance you’re too exhausted to do any more science tonight.”

“You’re just saying that to get me to come out for crew night,” Raph said as she turned to face Ivy.

Ivy gave her an unimpressed look, “Brian made popcorn and Ashes is currently mixing drinks. So far it has actually been calm so I would suggest you grab your notebook and come watch movies with us.”

The glass of solution next to Raphaella continued not to react even under her glare.

“Fine. What movies?”

“The Alien Trilogy. Jonny said no but we managed to persuade him after promising we could watch C _ owboys Vs Aliens  _ next time and that I would make another batch of jelly.”

“Guh,” Raph stood and winced as her spine popped, “At least it has some science.”

Ivy grinned and started down the hall with Raph shuffling behind her.

The common room was full when they arrived. Brian and Ashes were in the corner prepping, Toy Soldier was standing behind the couch in a vaguely menacing manner, and Jonny was sitting in the middle of the couch braiding Tim’s hair with Nastya packed up against his side.

“Go sit by Jonny and I’ll grab food,” Ivy said.

Raph stuck her tongue out but went to sit. 

“Wow look! The wild scientist appears!” Tim exclaimed as he grabbed at her legs from the floor.

Jonny smacked Tim with the hair brush, “Stop fucking moving or I’ll cut your hair off and feed it to TS!”

“That is vile.”

“I Agree With Nastya!”

Raph snorted as she purposely dropped on the couch hard enough to bounce Jonny and pull Tim’s hair. The resulting cusses were met with laughter from around the room.

“So are you doing everybody’s hair?” Raph asked as she glanced at the crew, all of which sported some kind of braid.

“Fuck you. Braiding your hair is like trying to contain a supernova in a paper bag.”

Ivy guffawed from across the room.

“What if I say please,” Raphaella said, leaning in to press a kiss to Jonny’s reddening cheek.

Jonny glared at her as he tied off Tim’s braid, “Maybe, but only after popcorn. I need all the energy I can get to tackle that monstrosity you call hair.”

It was well into the second movie when Jonny finally pulled her between his knees to start on her hair. The cussing kept to a minimum after nearly getting shot by Brian of all people. And it wasn’t finished till the middle of the third.

Raph clamored back onto the couch to snuggle into Jonny as thanks after feeling him flinch during all the jump scares while he tamed her hair into a french braid. He huffed but pulled her closer when the Alien returned to the screen.

She could feel his heartbeat against her wings remain steady despite his quick breaths where he’d buried his face into her hair. And even as the movie started coming to a climactic end Raphaella fell asleep.

**Marius Von Raum, Insecure Doctor Baron**

Imposter Syndrome was a bitch.

‘Doctor Baron’ Marius von Raum sighed as he wandered the halls of the Aurora. He didn’t feel like he fit in. Sure he was mutilated by a deranged vampire doctor like the rest of the crew, save for Raph, and maybe he had some (a lot) of trauma from how he’d died. Also, he played a couple instruments which was a strange addition but necessary to be on the crew.

Yet despite all of this he still didn’t feel that he was on the same level as the rest of them. He felt like an actor in a bad medical drama.

It felt like he was faking it.

Tim and Ivy chose that exact moment to run screaming past him and ultimately scare the shit out of him. Marius glanced down the hall and figured if two crazed immortals are running then he should be too.

The two ahead of him seemed to be running for the commons area.  _ Fuck, did he miss a meeting announcement? _

“Fuck off, you got him last time!” Tim yelled as he stumbled into the wall.

“You got him 3 times before that,” Ivy replied, jumping over Tim’s foot as he went for a leg sweep, “So it is my turn.”

Marius slowed as the pair flew into the commons and over the back of the couch.

“What the fuck!?”

Tim stood victoriously holding a sleepy-faced and angry Jonny in his arms before sprinting off towards the crew quarters.

“Shit, Tim got him again?”

Marius jumped and turned to see Ashes behind him. They seemed a bit winded.

“W-What?”

“I said, he got sleepy Jonny again?”

“I don’t-”

“Sleepy Jonny? The most coveted thing onboard. You have taken a Jonny nap, right?”

“No?”

Ashes gave him a concerned look, “Seriously? Shit, that explains a lot actually.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Follow me,” Ashes began walking the way Tim disappeared, “I figured Jonny would have cornered you by now. It’s damn near a right of passage to fall asleep on him .”

Marius thought of the feral asshole that he’d seen literally foaming at the mouth as he clawed his way into the vents while trying to shoot Nastya at least two days ago.

“Is there another Jonny onboard or are you trying to get me eviscerated?”

“Nope,” Ashes said before popping Tim’s bunk door open, “Take a look.”

On the bed was Jonny facing the door with Tim in his arms, both dead asleep in a nest of pillows.

“I have never seen any of you sleep like that.” Marius mumbled.

“Something about Jonny’s mechanism just knocks us on our asses. Even Raph and TS aren’t immune. I think Ivy figured it out but she won’t tell.”

Marius must have looked bewildered because Ashes laughed and slapped him on the back.

“Bring it up to Jonny later. I’m sure he can get you penciled in.”

Marius, of course, did not bring it up to the frankly terrifying First Mate and instead chose to watch. 

Watch as Raphaella falls asleep while Jonny braids her hair.

Watch as Tim uses Jonny like a personal body pillow.

Watch as Toy Soldier gives Jonny a solid hug from behind.

Watch as Brian picks Jonny up and holds him close. 

Watch as Ivy runs to Jonny with her eyes closed and full of tears. 

Watch as Ashes quietly asks Jonny something and leads him to their quarters. 

Watch as Nastya pulls Jonny up into the vents when the engine runs quiet. 

Finally, he can’t take it anymore and hunts the First Mate down. It’s not hard; just follow the gunfire and laughter and you’ll be there eventually.

It takes less than 30 minutes to find Jonny’s body tucked behind a storage crate with at least 5 holes in his chest and another 2 hours before he comes back to life.

“The fuck do you want, von Raum?” Jonny groans.

“I have a question and possibly a request.”

Jonny gives him an unimpressed look before forcing the crate away and dropping face first onto the floor.

“Alright, shoot.”

“Why do the crew hunt you down for comfort? You are the most shooty asshole here but whenever they are having a bad time they come running to you.”

Jonny rolled over and glared at Marius.

“OK, I get you’ve been around for all of them and according to Ivy you were there when everybody woke up the first time but I just don’t get it! You are a psychologist's wet dream of fucked up brain disorders and traumas and I-”

“Marius, shut up you’re rambling.”

Marius snapped his mouth closed.

Jonny sighed, “Christ this isn’t a conversation I want to have freshly revived… It’s because I validate their experiences. I don’t tell them everything is going to be alright because it’s not. I tell them what is happening to them is fucked up and unfair but we can at least manage it.”

“Oh…”

“I’m not going to sugar coat it. We’re all fucked. If we ever get sucked into a catastrophic event, who knows what’ll happen! We can’t escape into the bliss of insanity. The longest any of us has managed to stay dead was 50 years. What was done to us sucks and what was done to Carmilla sucks. There is no brightside.”

Marius felt his heart drop and his eyes blur. He didn’t expect an existential crisis today. Jonny was sitting in front of him now, holding Marius’ hands in his.

“I need you to stick with me Marius. We don’t have a chance for a happy ending but we have a chance for a manageable eternity. I regret ever helping her make other immortals but I don’t regret my crew. They come to me to manage the pain because that’s all we can do.”

Hot tears were flowing down both their faces now.

“What was your request?”

Marius sniffled, “Can I have a Jonny naptime, please?”

Jonny gave him a wet laugh and pulled them both to their feet.

“Yeah, we can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest y'all. I figured at least one of you would ask wtf Jonny's middle name was but alas...  
> It's Eastwood.
> 
> Also, I may come back around to do some editing on this later. I just needed to get this out before I lose interest.

**Author's Note:**

> I have one more chapter planned to round out the crew and a possible third chapter for a couple bonus scenes/characters.
> 
> Y'all are gorgeous. Have a spiffy day.
> 
> My tumblr : [Katrandomwrites](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/)


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